Unseen
by charrrmed
Summary: This is a series of unseen or alternate scenes from aired episodes. Be forewarned that the chapters are not connected.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:** What happened in the car ride after Damon and Bonnie drove off? Fantasies from Damon and more rules from Bonnie.

**Timeline:** Season 2, episode 6.

**A/N**: This is going to be a series of one-shots based on aired episodes. Sort of a "what happened" explanations of things we didn't see. Some will be probable (like this one-shot could've happened and continued straight into the aired scene of Bamon at the Manse) and some will be completely AU (because of future episode canon and because of probable Bamon sex. lol). These won't always be Bamon centered, but they will always include Bonnie.

**A/N**: I thought of adding this to **It Was You**, but I decided to let that stand a Bonnie/Caroline fic.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters.

**Plan B-The Car Ride**

Bonnie glanced behind her to the back of the truck where Mason lay. She righted herself with a quick look to Damon who was driving like there wasn't an unconscious body in the truck. An unconscious body _she_ had helped capture. She knew that when Stefan figured out that it was Katherine she had seen with Mason that he would get with Damon and figure out why. She had simply not imagined that she would be _this_ involved in the process. On one hand it was important that they figure out why Tyler's uncle was involved with Katherine. How much did he know about her? Was him coming back for Mayor Lockwood's funeral just a cover? On the other hand…she looked at Damon again and sent a silent prayer.

Damon looked over at the little witch and saw that her eyes were closed. A small, amused smile lit his face before he looked at the road. He was thinking about just how he was going to torture Mason to his heart's content while dealing with the witch's predictable objections when she interrupted his thoughts.

"So what game are you playing?"

He looked and saw she had her arms crossed with an expectant expression on her face. "I'm gonna need a bit more than that before I decide how I wanna answer," he answered with a twisted smile.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. It had just occurred to her that she was in a truck alone with Damon Salvatore. And they were driving to his lair where she would still be alone with him. She hoped Caroline would be there, just in case Damon decided to turn his attention from Mason to her. "I set you on fire," she said with a lift of her shoulder, and Damon moaned his agreement. "So what are you waiting for?" she asked as she pierced him with a stare.

Damon smirked. "Nervous?"

"Not in the least," she answered immediately. That was a bit of a lie. She had been terrified that night when she had gone home, thinking that he would come after her. She had been prepared to put him down permanently. But nothing happened.

"Mmm," Damon said with a thoughtful look on his face, "your heartbeat says differently." He was very satisfied at her fear.

"Fear means adrenaline," Bonnie pointed out. She watched as he laughed.

"And where did you read that?"

Irritated already, Bonnie ignored him and looked at the passing trees. "Well I'll be ready," she said with finality, sounding like she was preparing for battle.

Damon looked at her short form; her delicate fingers that wrapped around her upper arm; her hair tucked behind her ear; her mouth that was a little crooked which only served to enhance her pouts of disapproval. He felt his member start to stiffen, and he willed it away. This was so not the time. He wished she hadn't brought up that night. He wished they'd been alone under different circumstances, because he sure as hell has thought about that night though not in the way she obviously assumes. She would have _killed_ him had it not been for Elena. That intrigued him to no end. He had taken her threats seriously enough, but part of him always wondered if she had it in her to do it simply because he still couldn't shake the image of that scared girl he had cornered against the car. He had his answer, so now he wondered if he could get her to do it again. Would the judgy little witch set him on fire again even after Elena's little pep talk? She had gone against her judgment and saved him because of Elena and apparently because of this weird preference she seemed to have for Stefan. He wondered if he could push her to the point of chucking both of them aside and setting him on fire again. It's too bad they had needed her help to capture Mason or else he could've had his answer. He mentally sighed at the missed opportunity, his gaze still fixated on her.

One minute after shifting her interest to the scenery outside of the truck, Bonnie looked out of the windshield. Her peripheral vision showed her that Damon's head was turned in her direction. She looked to find him leering at her, his eyes on her hips. It shocked her but more than that, "Will you watch the road?" she shrieked. How long had he been doing that?

Damon lazily dragged his eyes away from her and rolled them, saying, "relax. We weren't even swerving. Vampire senses," he said with a wink.

"Hey," she said harshly, a little out of breath both from the look she had seen on his face and the thought of them getting into a car accident at the speed he was driving.

Damon gave her a tired look, knowing she was about to chew his head off.

"Don't ever look at me like that _ever_ again. I'm dead serious, Damon," she said, her voice hard as stone and rising when his look turned more innocent than she ever thought him capable of being.

He gave her his full attention when she flipped her hair and turned her seat to better face him before continuing.

"Whatever you're thinking; whatever you're about to think; whatever you've _thought_ of thinking; _Erase it,_" she ordered.

Damon licked his lips as she dived into how, if he couldn't erase the thoughts himself, she'd give him one good aneurism to help him out. When she started talking about how serious she was, green eyes shining and communicating her menace, he thought, "_will you shut the fuck up and let me jump you?" _

"_Or better yet, shut the fuck up and jump __me__." _But this last thought was never fully formed. It stayed in the form of disconnected words that floated in his brain, hidden in the recesses of the fully-formed thought that she was hot.

"Are we clear?" Bonnie asked, eyebrow raised, lips pursed.

"Crystal," he bit out, widening his blue eyes.

She lifted her head slightly to ascertain his sincerity. He had a crazy look in his eyes. She couldn't tell if it was because he was still thinking dirty thoughts or if it was because she had annoyed him. The latter made her feel like her offended rant wasn't in vain, so she went with it. "Good," she said and faced forward again. "So how exactly are you planning to get Mason to talk?"

"Exactly?" he asked, and the look in his eyes became even crazier, and she knew it had absolutely nothing to do with her. A part of her realized he was doing it to scare her. Well, it was working. As he started on an obvious lie about how he was going to ask nicely and that he was sure his charm and charisma would work on Mason, Bonnie blocked him out and said another prayer for her part in this whole thing.

/


	2. Chapter 2: One Last Conversation

**Summary**: After meeting Lucy, Bonnie goes to the cemetery for one last conversation with her grandmother.

**Timeline**: Post season 2, episode 7 (**Masquerade**)

**A/N**: This was written for thewitchgoddess Summer Prompt Fest 2010.

**The Prompt**: Bonnie & Sheila, fic, gen, after Sheila's death, finding closure - one last conversation (don't care whether it's ghost!Sheila or just something like talking to her gravestone)

Disclaimer: I don't own the character or the characters mentioned.

**One Last Conversation**

She had wanted to tell Jeremy to head to the graveyard last night, but she had thought better of it. The night had taken a turn she never would have expected. Out of everything that happened, even Elena being magically connected to Katherine, what affected her most was meeting someone who was related to her. She had needed to mull everything over.

As the leaves broke under her feet, Bonnie replayed the event in her mind for what was probably the 1,000th time. Now that she had lived it, it seemed to go buy so fast in her memory. It had not in fact ended with grams. She still had family out there. She turned left to where she knew her grandmother's headstone lay. Her steps became slower the closer she got. Her fingers flexed around the blue Forget Me Nots in her hands. This is the first time she has visited. She had never stopped thinking about her, but the fact that her life kept making one harsh turn after another had kept her away. A little smile graced her face when she stood in front of the flat granite headstone. She kneeled and placed her palm on it.

_Here lies Sheila Bennett, Beloved Mother-in-Law and Grandmother. _

She had wanted to tell her father to add something more at the time, but she had not been able to come up with anything. She let her hand slide off the headstone. She remembers how she had not been able to look as they had lowered the coffin. Her body had felt so hot despite the cold day. She brought the flowers to her nose and inhaled. The petals moved a little as her lips spread into a small smile.

"Hi, grams," she said and lowered the flowers to her lap. "I know I've never visited, but…I had to after what happened last night," she said with a small shake of her head. "First of all, Katherine's in the tomb where she should have been in the first place." She arranged herself so that she sat cross-legged on the ground. "Damon put her there, but I didn't watch. I wasn't actually interested," she said quizzically.

Knowing that Katherine was in the tomb didn't give her the same satisfaction as standing in front of that building, knowing those tomb vampires were burning alive. She mentally read the words on the gravestone. She knew her grandmother was not truly in there. Her spirit was in another world, but she couldn't very well stare off into space or look up in order to talk to her. The gravestone was a good proxy.

"But catching Katherine wasn't the best part of the night. I met someone, a cousin. Her name is Lucy?" she said with a little frown as she wondered if her grandmother had ever met Lucy at any point in her lifetime. "She's apparently the daughter of Joanna who is Pauline's…cousin," she said as she tried to work it out in her head. She had met Pauline once when she was 12 and knew she was her cousin. "I felt her before I met her, and it was so weird."

The word she was looking for was 'freaky.' It had been the most disconcerting feeling. She had been talking to Jeremy when she all of a sudden felt something in her fill up. The closer she had gotten to it, the more it had threatened to paralyze her. When she had spoken to Lucy the first time, she had felt a most desperate need to stay right next to her.

She smiled sadly. "I always felt comfortable with you grams, but I always assumed it was because you were my grandmother, you know? I love…loved you. I didn't realize it was magical." As a matter of fact, she didn't realize it at all. She had not been aware of her connection to her grandmother, not even when she had lost her, until she had felt Lucy.

"But apparently it was," she said with a little laugh. Her expression turned somber as she said, "Lucy didn't fix everything. She couldn't stay. Which of course makes sense, because she has her own life. She wasn't going to stay because of me," she said sadly. "And dad is still…dad. His head is in the sand now more than ever. I won't push him though," she said resolutely. "If he doesn't want to deal with this, then he doesn't have to. I won't make him. Because it's apparently _my_ job to be considerate," she said bitterly.

She shook her head and closed her eyes in order to trample those emotions. The truth is she wasn't sure if she wanted her dad to start acknowledging her magic. With Caroline being turned into a vampire, her father's denial of her heritage was now the only reminder of her old life, however twisted that was. It was the only thing that had not changed.

Her eyes filled with tears as she mulled over her cruel situation. "I miss you so much, grams," she choked, unable to hold back the tears. "I really hope you're watching over me," she said desperately, her throat closing. She laid the flowers on the ground and held her head between her hands as she started to cry, her shoulders shaking.

She didn't cry for long. She sniffed and wiped away her tears. She picked up the flowers and smelled them again. She longed for the day she'd be able to summon her grandmother.

"I know it's not going to happen if I keep feeling the way I feel, but I can't help it. No rush though, right?" she said with a watery smile as she recalled the words, accompanied by a look, Sheila would say to her whenever she would try to hurry her through the recounting of her family history with requests to start practicing her magic.

She stayed quiet for a long time, remembering everything about her grandmother. Her beautiful face, her assured voice, even the stern manner with which she addressed her sometimes when she was close to being out of line. Bonnie smiled when she realized that there was no bitterness or anger attached to the memories. Emotions that she had felt because of the fact that she would never be able to add on to these memories. It was over. And she was scared. She had held on to the anger and sadness for so long. She now felt like a familiar blanket had been taken away from her. It was really now the story of her life. She did not know how to _not_ miss her grandmother. How could she ever go a day without remembering her? It seemed impossible, but she felt it coming.

Tears welled in her eyes again, and she said, "I love you, grams. _Very_ much."

She rested the flowers on the gravestone, but she didn't leave. She stayed and got lost in memories of her years with Sheila, alternating between crying, smiling, and, for the first time, laughing.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary**: In a bid to further mend things between them, Caroline reminds Bonnie of the cheerleader tryouts coming up.

**Timeline**: Set during **Katerina. **Jeremy has just walked off with Luka to show him the office, and then the fic dives into AU.

**A/N**: Since the show seems to think the friendships between the girls aren't important (except for when they're all bonding to save Elena/Elena's sometimes boyfriend), I guess I'll just have to get my fix through fic. I had included Elena in the beginning, and I had her saying the hot back comment, and then I realized that's all she would say. Written for the Summer Prompt Fest 2010 at thewitchgoddess**.**

**The Prompt: ****Bonnie, fic, cheerleading (maybe with Caroline and/or Elena?)**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the characters.

**Through Our Love of Cheering, We Will**

Bonnie watched Jeremy and Luka walk off, her head tilting a little. "_Very_ nice back," she heard from behind her. She turned to see Caroline.

"Who is he?" Caroline asked as she dropped her keys in her purse.

"Luka. He's new," Bonnie answered as she threw a last look at the person in question.

Caroline looped her arm through Bonnie's and steered them to the building where their respective classes were located. "So I guess this means Stefan's been bumped down on your list?" she asked with a secretive smile.

"Hey," Bonnie said, looking around to make sure no one had heard. "Keep your voice down," she whispered.

"Oh please," Caroline said, dismissing her concern.

Bonnie looked at Caroline from the corner of her eyes and asked, "Do you really think he has a nice back? Because you guys always act like you don't know what I'm talking about when I bring it up," she said with mock reproach.

"We _don't_ know what you're talking about. I mean being into a guy's ass? Fine," she shrugs. "Some guys do have nice asses, but their _backs_?" She looked at Bonnie like she was abnormal.

"Some guys have nice backs!" Bonnie defended not for the first time, her voice a little high pitched. She looked off into the distance and said, "The way it sometimes starts broad at the shoulders and tappers down into their waist." She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes happily. When she opens them and sees that Caroline is trying not to laugh at her, she grunts in disgust at her friend's lack of understanding and says, "Your lost."

"Right," Caroline said, dragging out the word. "So anyways! I wanted to talk to you about the squad. Tryouts are coming up!" she said excitedly. She has been trying to figure out the perfect way to approach Bonnie since the day they went to the well, and she couldn't believe it had taken her so long to think of cheerleading.

Bonnie looked at her with a blank look on her face. "Yeah?"

Caroline widened her eyes, "so we need to start coming up with songs."

Bonnie stopped in her tracks and faced her. "Hold on. Are you seriously gonna stay on the team?" she asked with a little frown on her face.

The excitement faded a little from Caroline's face as she tried to figure out what Bonnie was getting at. "Uh yeah. Duh. So are you. You are _not_ going to pull an Elena and quit."

"Wait Caroline," Bonnie said, shaking her head. If she let the blonde continue to talk, she would make her lose her train of thought. "You're a vampire."

"So?"

Bonnie jerked her head back to consider her. "Uh, I kinda thought you might want to take a break and deal with what's happened to you."

"I'm cool with it," Caroline shrugged.

Bonnie clearly didn't believe her. "Just like that? I'm a vampire, hear me snarl? I mean I'd need about 3 months to _freak_ out before I got over it, and I'd still need some allowances for an occasional break down or two."

Caroline laughed lightly. Bonnie hiked her brows, waiting for an explanation, and she said, "Come here."

She led them to one of the benches in the courtyard and sat opposite her. She tucked a curly strand of hair behind her ear and said, "Stefan says that being a vampire augments my personality. So the part where you worried about me being lost? Not needed. I'm actually more me now than ever," she said with a hopeful shrug of her shoulders.

Bonnie looked down with a sad smile.

"I'm trying, Bonnie," Caroline said softly.

"I know," she said, looking back up at her. She reached across the table and touched her hand. "It's just…one more change," she said unhappily.

Caroline squeezed her hand. "So tryouts?"

"Ugh," she said, closing her eyes.

"Are you seriously quitting?"

Bonnie put her hands on the sides of her face and looked at her from beneath her lashes with a trite expression which caused Caroline to really fire off.

"Have you completely forgotten our dreams for senior year? We're supposed to go all out! Leave the audience wanting more, loving us more than they love the football and basketball teams! You can't quit Bonnie!"

Her voice had gotten so high-pitched and whiny that Bonnie squeezed her eyes shut against it. "I don't know if I want to quit!" she blurted out. "I haven't even thought about it, so much has happened." She sighed in frustration. Folding her arms on the table, she said, "I've done so many things and felt so many things. Grams is dead, I'm all alone with my powers, there's a vampire trapped in a tomb under the old church, my best friend's a vampire, the guy I've known since I was little and thought was just a jerk is going to turn into a werewolf, and I'm supposed to go cheer on a _football_ team? Act like that's all the care I have in the world? That seems _a lot_ fake," Bonnie said, using the phrase she, Elena, and Caroline reserved for some of the girls at their school.

"Okay," Caroline said, as she clearly fought to find a way to argue. Her face lit up when she found it. "But it's not about forgetting and pretending those things aren't happening or don't exist. It's about finding balance, having some _fun_ now and then," she said while jostling Bonnie's folded arms.

"I am having fun," Bonnie said. "As a matter of fact, I'm meeting Jeremy to play pool later," she said with a flip of her curls.

Caroline was stumped. "You suck at pool."

"Hence the _fun_," Bonnie said.

"Okay, but that's with Jeremy. And that's only one day. You need something more…frequent. Bon, you love cheerleading."

"I really do," she said, conflict on her face. "But how soon until I have to miss practice because of some _thing_ I need to do?"

Caroline hated to see her friend so pessimistic. That never used to be Bonnie. "I just think that if Stefan of all people can manage to be on the football team despite his overall…disposition, then you can cheer," she said softly.

Bonnie rolled her eyes and plopped her head on her hand. She closed her eyes and said, "I don't know, Caroline."

Feeling like she was losing the argument, Caroline brought out the big gun. "There is…stuff between you and I. And not good stuff either. We have drama, and…I feel like the _best_ way to handle it is for us to do something we both love, and that's cheering." Her brows were pulled together, all of her vulnerability plain on her face as she implored.

Bonnie smiled. Looking up at the sky, she bit her lip and said, "I'll think about it. That's really all I can promise."

Caroline's face fell just a little bit, and she looked at the table in disappointment.

"We're gonna be late," Bonnie said.

Caroline nodded, Bonnie gathered her books, and they stood up. Walking to Caroline's side, Bonnie asked, "how about…you come to my house and we do movies and facials?" When Caroline looked at her, she said, "we have stuff to work out, and cheering isn't the only thing we both love." She smiled.

Caroline smiled brightly. She had another opportunity to present her argument. She wanted Bonnie on that team with her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary**: Bonnie learns of Elena's deal with Elijah, and she tries to temper her rising panic at the thought that he has magic on his side.

**Timeline**: This is set after Rose and leads into Daddy Issues.

**A/N**: *Sigh* What else is there to say about Bonnie's storylines taking place offscreen, in interviews, and in fanfics?

**Disclaimer**: The characters are not my property.

**And The Ground Gives Way Again-Part 1**

Bonnie jiggled her keys in her closed palm as she walked sightlessly, relying on familiarity to get her to her first class of the day. When she had called Elena the night before to tell her that she had succeed with the moonstone, her friend had given her some news of her own: Stefan was safely out of the tomb thanks to a vampire named Elijah, the very one who had kidnapped Elena, and his witches. To say that Bonnie was worried was an understatement. She has not stopped fidgeting since she got off the phone. An original vampire is in Mystic Falls, and he has witches working for or with him. She wiped her free hand across her face as she continued to walk. They were screwed, and she was trying very hard to keep her brain from imagining to what _exact degree_ they were screwed.

"Hello there!"

Her eyes snapped into focus and she came to an abrupt halt. She had almost walked smack into Elena. She inhaled, seeing that Elena was slightly bent, trying to get to her eye level with her arm halfway in the air mid-wave. "Sorry," Bonnie breathed out with a small frown.

"You were walking like you were possessed," Elena said with a little chuckle. "Wait, you're not possessed again, are you?" she attempted to joke.

"No," Bonnie said, the humor going right over her head. She tried to brighten her demeanor. Plastering her smile and slightly raising her shoulders.

"What's the matter?" Elena asked seriously.

"Nothing," she responded, hoping she wouldn't badger her for long. She took in Elena's demeanor. She wasn't looking too hot either. "Are _you_ okay? You look a little…haggard," she said as sensitively she could. "Stefan's out of the tomb; you should be over the moon," she said, infusing some excitement into her voice.

"I am," Elena said, not looking it. "It's just Damon," Elena said, her shoulders falling.

Bonnie pursed her lips, already trying to decide at what point she would tell Elena that she had heard enough about Damon. She hoped the fact that she and Elena were now on better terms didn't mean that they'd start to commiserate over him. It is one thing for Elena to be his friend, sympathize with him and whatnot, and it's something else entirely for her to talk to Bonnie about him as if he were Caroline or something.

"He lost a friend last night," Elena said. Her brown eyes were filled with sorrow as if she had lost a friend too. "She was a vampire, and she was bitten by a werewolf on the full moon."

A girl in grey sweats skirted very close to Bonnie, and the girls realized that they had stopped in the middle of the hallway to have their conversation. They moved to the side, against somebody's locker, and Bonnie said, "I wasn't aware that Damon knew how to be anybody's friend."

"He cared about her," Elena said. It occurred to her that maybe Bonnie wasn't the best person to talk to about this, so she moved away from the topic of Damon. "It was horrible. The bite was like an infection. You know a werewolf bit can kill a vampire. She was losing her mind, and it was really disturbing. She became more and more violent."

"Wait, you were _there_?" Bonnie asked slightly alarmed.

"Damon asked me to watch over her."

Bonnie's mouth fell open in disbelief.

"I was fine," Elena reassured her. "She didn't hurt me."

"She could've!" she suddenly caught herself and looked around to make sure she hadn't drawn anyone's attention. Satisfied that everyone was still minding their own business, she turned back to Elena.

"Bonnie I'm fine, okay? Damon wouldn't have left me with her if he thought she could hurt me. I took care of myself."

Bonnie wasn't satisfied, but she let it go. That was her modus operandi when it came to Elena and Damon. They had a different vibe going on, and she just let it be.

She heaved a big sigh, her mind still preoccupied with original vampires and witches.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about something," Elena said, tugging at her attention again. "About the moonstone."

"What about it?" Bonnie asked.

Elena frowned as she tried to figure out the best way to air her worry. "Who exactly helped you with it?"

Bonnie shrugged with one shoulder. "My friend."

"A witch."

"Warlock," Bonnie corrected. "Male magical people are _warlocks_," she emphasized once more.

"Right, sorry," Elena said, shaking her head. "I've just been thinking…what if the moonstone isn't destroyed? What if it still exists?"

Bonnie's face went blank.

"No hear me out," Elena quickly said. "I've been thinking that this witch, I mean warlock, might be working for Elijah."

Bonnie squeezed her keys, trying to catch up with Elena's train of thought. She shook her head, clearly telling her that she had no idea what she was getting at.

"Think about it," Elena implored. "Elijah told me he has friends who have the gift of magic. They're the ones who got Stefan out of the tomb."

"Right," Bonnie said.

"Now this guy helps you destroy the moonstone? What if the two are connected? What if he's working with Elijah? What if _he's_ one of Elijah's friends?" Each question took on a more urgent tone.

"Whoah, calm down," Bonnie said, spreading her hands to the best of her ability. She grabbed Elena's arm with her free one, and Elena huffed in frustration. "I'm sorry, Elena. I hear what you're saying, but it sounds _completely_ crazy." Elena went to speak, but Bonnie cut her off. "I didn't just see this guy on the street and walk up to him and ask him to help me separate a curse from this moonstone I have. I know him," she said earnestly. "He's my friend, a _good_ friend."

Elena leaned against the locker, completely deflated. She closed her eyes to compose herself.

"Where is this coming from?" Bonnie asked softly.

"I just want to make sure that thing is completely gone. I want it to be, but I don't think it is. And at the same time I don't _want_ it to be because I don't want Klaus to be mad," she said, her voice becoming emotional with oncoming tears. She swallowed past the growing lump in her throat.

Bonnie immediately took her into a hug.

Elena gratefully rested her head on Bonnie's shoulder.

"Where does Elijah come into this?" Bonnie asked in confusion.

"I don't trust him," Elena said in a small voice.

Bonnie broke the hug to stare disbelievingly at her. "What?" she asked, taking a step back. "You made a deal with him just two nights ago, a deal that's literally life and death, and you don't trust him?"

"You think I should?" Elena asked, as she crossed her arms despite her uncertainty.

"Of course I don't think you should, but that's not what we're talking about!" She was so stunned at this news that she was now whispering. "Why would you make that deal in the first place?"

"Because I was desperate," Elena said; her own voice still normal.

"Desperate? We had a solution, and it worked!"

"You don't know that," she said calmly.

"So you went and handed your life over to someone you don't even _trust_?" Bonnie said, now sternly whispering.

Elena was at a loss to explain her actions. She gave it a shot anyways. "I trusted him in the moment-"

"Oh my God," Bonnie said in her normal voice, her eyes going to the heavens.

"He said he wanted to defeat Klaus. I believed him; I still do. But now I'm not sure that he'll leave me alone after he does that. For now I want him to think that I trust him. That'll work to my advantage."

It broke Bonnie's heart to see how Elena was trying to convince her, as well as herself it seemed, that she had the upper hand in this. She wanted that to be true, but she couldn't not point something out to her. "Elena," she began sympathetically, "if Elijah knows enough that he could send his minion or partner or whatever to trick me into thinking I took the spell off the moonstone; if he could know _when_ I planned on separating the curse from the moonstone; if he's _that_ many steps ahead, don't you think he would already know that you don't trust him?"

Elena tightened her jaw. What she really wanted to do was start crying in the middle of the hallway. Just fold into the fetal position on the cold tile floor and let them barricade her inside the school.

Bonnie took a step toward her and said, "I agree with you that Elijah shouldn't be trusted. I agree with you that his magical friends are people to worry about. This original vampire has witches that he's deemed worthy enough to work with. You know what that means? It means they're powerful. And _that's_ something to worry about."

Elena was held spellbound by Bonnie's mossy green eyes. "What can they do?" she asked, hypnotized.

"It's magic, Elena," Bonnie said ominously. "They can do anything. And they don't need to be staring you in the face to do it. Klaus, Elijah, and their fangs are the least of our problems."


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary**: Bonnie has a reluctant conversation with Stefan about what happened in the tomb.

**A/N**: I realize I keep summarizing each part instead of summarizing the whole story, but that's because I'm not sure how to summarize the whole thing yet.

**Disclaimer**: The characters are not my property.

**Part 2**

Her earlier conversation with Elena had been on Bonnie's mind for half of the day, but the anxiety in her heart was replaced with excitement as she walked out into the afternoon air, and she was grateful for the reprieve. After the disaster that was her channeling Luka, she had ordered a couple of talismans over the internet. No one had been home when the delivery had arrived, so the person had left a note on the front door. She was looking forward to touching her talismans. She wondered what it would be like when she began channeling her power through them if just the _thought_ of seeing them had her feeling much lighter.

She even had a little smile on her face. Now she didn't know the first thing about binding a spell to a talisman or about channeling her power through one when there wasn't a magical being on the other side, but that just meant that she had to call Luka, something she did not mind at all. Thinking about Luka also made her think about Jeremy. He had gone and complicated everything. She had thought Luka was cute as soon as she had seen him. The fact that he'd turned out to be a warlock had been the best icing she could've asked for on an already yummy-looking cake. But then there was the time she had also been spending with Jeremy. She had thought it weird when he asked her to play pool, but she had quickly gotten comfortable with him. It had not dawned on her until sometime later how much their conversations included things about her witchcraft. It was an oddly nice change considering her witchcraft was never part of a regular conversation. It was either a strictly normal conversation, like with her father. Or it was a strictly witchy conversation, like with Stefan and Elena. Jeremy provided her the blend and made her realize that that's how she preferred it.

Jeremy upped the stakes for her with the way he looked at her when they were together. Whether he was asking something, saying something, or listening to her, he always had that mixture of intense and boyish when his eyes were fixed on her. _And his eyes were always fixed on her!_ Of course he would look away from time to time like any normal person, but he would be right back to looking at her straight in the eyes. It had been a little too much for her at first, but then she had reasoned that it's because she wasn't used to talking to him this much; thus, she wasn't familiar with how he looked at people when he spoke to them.

She liked hanging out with him. It was nice figuring out what had stayed the same with him and what had changed, what she didn't know. He was a cool person to be around, and he was also a little goofy. She had the feeling that he was goofy in order to make her laugh which he succeeded in doing one hundred percent of the time.

Whereas before she would question him about wanting to hang out with her, she now looked forward to it. She had even stopped giving him a hard time about it. One time after laughing her head off at something he had said, she had been trying to catch her breath and waiting for her stomach to stop hurting. After she quieted down, she realized that he had been staring at her with a half smile on his face. Now she didn't have much experience with boys, but she was an observant person. Her stomach fluttered the moment he looked away from her. It had been a quick move, but she had seen it. Or maybe she had wanted to see it? That's what she had told herself afterwards. There was no way Jeremy had feelings for her. He was only hanging out with her because he was a nice person, and they surprisingly had things in common, and they found it easy to talk to each other, another pleasant revelation.

And then he ran into the tomb. And then he tried to kiss her. And he went and complicated everything. As long as she had believed that Jeremy did not have feelings for her, then she had not a need to examine her own feelings about him.

And then there was Luka. Cute Luka who made her smile and had given her a _really_ nice feeling when he had tapped into her power.

Bonnie was so involved in her thoughts that she didn't notice there was someone standing by the side of her car until she got to the driver's door. "Stefan," she said, surprised.

"You were a million miles away," he said with his trademark smile, his backpack slung on one shoulder and his hand in his pocket.

"Sorry," she apologized. "I just had stuff on my mind. It's nice to see you out."

"It's nice to _be_ out."

"I'm sorry I couldn't be the one to do it," she said, frowning against the afternoon sun.

"Don't worry about it. The fact that it was shorter than I thought it was going to be made the whole experience not that bad."

Bonnie nodded, her eyes downcast. The truth is that she wasn't sure how long it would've taken her to get Stefan out. It had been impossible to get the seal down even with Luka's help. It wasn't even the fact that she hadn't had enough energy. She hadn't had enough _Power_. She still doesn't. She's not on Emily's level, or even on grams' for that matter. It might've been _years_ before she could have gotten him out.

"Is everything okay?" he asked, concern showing on his sharp features.

"Yes," she smiled.

"So you're feeling better after that night," he said, clearly doubting it.

"Yeah," she said with a shrug, hoping Stefan wouldn't be able to read her face.

"What went wrong Bonnie?" he asked softly.

She shook her head. "I wasn't able to bring down the seal. It _is_ Emily's spell we're talking about," she said.

"Right, but you'd said you were sure you could do it when we were at the boarding house."

Bonnie didn't like how he was closing in on her. "Right. I was positive I could. But I was wrong."

"Jeremy said you weren't strong enough."

His eyes were penetrating her, and she would rather be anywhere else. Her chin rose a little at what he said. "You've spoke to Jeremy?" she asked tightly.

Stefan squinted at her. "That's what he said when you were attempting the spell. What's going on, Bonnie? Did you know you couldn't do it?"

"No," she said as she fished her keys out of her bag. She unlocked her door, saying, "I told you I thought I could do it."

"Yeah, but there seems to be something I'm missing." He sounded like he was reprimanding her. "Something that Jeremy knew."

She sighed after throwing her bag on the passenger seat. "I don't want to be having this conversation, Stefan." Her eyebrows were raised, similar to how her grandmother would look, signaling that their talk would soon be over.

"Why did you start to bleed?" he pressed on, taking a step toward her. "With the way you're acting, I'm beginning to think that wasn't normal."

She looked past him towards the entrance of the school, lips pursed, communicating that she was starting to get annoyed.

"Bonnie," he said quietly, "if there's something going on, you can tell me. You can come to me about anything." When she continued to look past him he asked, "Is there something wrong with your powers?"

She dragged her gaze back to him, but she didn't say anything.

Stefan hid his alarm and asked, "What is it?"

She shook her head. She unhinged her mouth and said in a small voice, "Everything. Okay? I've been doing too many spells, and it's taking a toll on me."

Stefan was taken aback. He took in how incredibly worn out she looked after confessing that. "Bonnie, I'm," he was at a loss for words. "I'm sorry."

Bonnie immediately rejected his apology, sympathy, and pity. "Please don't, Stefan. It is what it is, okay? You wanted to know, and I told you."

"If I'd had any idea, I never would've asked you to bring down the seal," he said, imploring her to believe him. "Why didn't you tell me?"

His question threw her for a loop. "_Tell_ you? Oh, you mean like how you told me about your blood problem? Oh wait," she said, her head snapping to the side in fake consideration, "_Elena_ told me, two _months_ after I stopped you that night."

Stefan pursed his lips even as a smile threatened to show.

Bonnie smiled and asked wryly, "Wanna try that again?"

"_Yes_," he said emphatically. "I meant," he started, gesturing with his hand, "that…I wish you had come to me, wish that I'd seen the signs."

"Oh please, Stefan," Bonnie said, exasperated. "I'm not your responsibility. Do you think I _ran_ to Jeremy with this? He happened to be at the right place at the right time, just like you."

"And what place was that?" he asked curiously.

Bonnie blew out a breath. If the damn spell had worked, she wouldn't be having this conversation. "When Elena was kidnapped," she began, looking up at him, "after you and Damon left, while Jeremy and I were waiting at the house, I had wanted to send her something to give her hope. To let her know that we knew she was missing and that you guys were on your way. I had no idea what she could possibly be going through or feeling. So I did a spell and sent her a note. That was the first time I passed out."

She had been losing energy so fast with that spell; the pain had been dull but insistent. It had almost been like she had a fever and a mild headache. The darkness had been welcomed.

Stefan slowly shook his head.

Bonnie inhaled deeply. "The first time I had the nosebleed was in the classroom after I pinpointed her location."

"Oh my God, Bonnie," Stefan let out, pacing away from her. He turned to look at her and she shrugged.

"And my nose bled again when I made the ash."

She hadn't thought it possible for his eyes to get any more piercing. She had been wrong.

"How could I have missed this?"

He was visibly upset which shocked her. "Stefan, don't worry about it."

"You could've _died_," he said, getting very close to her. It dawned on him that she could've died doing something he'd told her and the reality left him very cold. He was upset with her, but he was mostly upset with himself. He had never once asked her if she could the spells. "Why would you _not_ say something?"

A harsh laugh escaped from Bonnie. "I don't know Stefan, maybe because it isn't the easiest thing to talk about? Look maybe you don't get it, but I had enough problems before all of this started. But now not only do I know _less_ than everyone else, but I can't even make it through a spell. Elijah has witches who are able to break through Emily's spell, now contrast that with _me_ who's _bleeding_ and falling over!" She had a manic smile on her face as she sagged against her car. She was screwed. She can handle not knowing much about the craft. She _cannot_ handle not knowing much and going up against those who do.

Stefan calmed himself and lightly rubbed her shoulder.

Bonnie crossed her arms, putting her fingers under her right eye. She would not cry. She had no idea when Stefan pulled her into a hug, but there he was rubbing her back. She uncrossed her arms and hugged him back.

"I know it's hard to talk about," he said. He knew she had been having a tough time without her grandmother, but he had never made the connection between her death and what it meant in terms of her understanding of her powers. He had not realized all she had been dealing with. "I get it," he said, squeezing her a little. "It's the power, having it. It's hard to admit when we can't control it. It's hard to deal with." His voice was distant.

Bonnie frowned, still on the verge of tears. "Yes," she said. Stefan's words resonated deeply. She pulled back from him, amazement in her eyes. "_Yes_, that it's exactly."

His hand still resting on her shoulder, he said, "It's hard to admit, especially when there are people counting on you. Expecting you to _have_ power."

Bonnie could only nod. He was putting into words exactly what she'd been unable to explain, not to Jeremy and certainly not to herself. "I hate it. I wish all of these problems, and vampires, and sacrifices would go away so I could practice my powers in peace, but that's just not gonna happen, is it?" she asked on a laugh. "I need a break, but I can't exactly tell Klaus I want a timeout."

"I should've paid more attention." When she rolled her eyes, he hurriedly said, "I know you're not my responsibility, but…I've known your family for a long time, Bonnie."

She frowned.

"I knew your grandmother, and…I should've been paying more attention."

"You were worried about Elena," she said. "I was glad. The last thing I had wanted was you smelling my blood."

He smiled and dropped his hand. "It's not that I had other things on my mind. Vampires can't smell a witch's blood."

She cocked her head a little at that. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah. We can't detect it."

"Why?" she asked inquisitively.

He shrugged. "That's the way I've always known it to be. It's undetectable to us. You guys get all the advantages," he joked, making her smile with teeth and everything.

Bonnie felt like a slight weight had been lifted off her shoulders by telling Stefan what was going on. She just had to assure one thing, "Do I even need to tell you not to tell Damon about any of this?"

He acted like he was considering it for one second before he replied, "No," bending a bit toward her as he said it.

"Good," she said and it kind of sounded like a threat, a playful one, but a threat nonetheless. "I have to go."

He nodded and moved away from the car.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary**: Bonnie's world sustains another severe crack when she helps Elena figure out who Elijah's witches are.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own the characters.

**Part 3**

After examining all fifteen of her new talismans, Bonnie had called not Luka, but Elena. She had begun to think that maybe there was something to Elena thinking she was a step ahead of Elijah. Bonnie didn't think that was true for the moment, but she _did_ think she could change that. Besides, the last time Elena had felt like no one was listening to her, she had tried to sacrifice herself. Bonnie had offered to go to her house but Elena had nixed the idea, saying that she did not want them to talk about Elijah while her Uncle John was anywhere near the house.

"How are you dealing?" Bonnie asked when she finally turned the blender off for good. Elena was looking all kinds of gloomy on her counter.

"Not good," she said on a breath.

"What was Stefan even thinking bringing him back?"

Elena dragged herself from the counter to get the strawberries out of the fridge. The three girls had three staples when they wanted to comfort each other: slumber parties, ice cream, and banana berry drinks. This time they were going for the drinks. Bonnie was making it for herself as much as she was making it for Elena. She poured the drink into two tall glasses while Elena sliced two strawberries.

"He said he knows how to kill Klaus."

Bonnie's skepticism matched Elena's. "Yeah right."

Elena shrugged, glad that someone else was as doubtful as she is. She placed one strawberry on the rim of each glass and then Bonnie added the straws.

"So why do you want to talk about Elijah?" Elena asked after she took her first sip.

Bonnie savored the taste of the banana while they made their way to the couch before she answered. "I've been thinking about what you said about wanting to be one step ahead."

"Yeah," Elena said, cutting her off as she took a seat next to her on the black leather couch. "About what I said earlier. Accusing your friend? I'm sorry. It sounded ridiculous when I thought about it afterwards," she said, rolling her eyes at herself.

Bonnie set her drink on the glass table. "Don't worry about it. I seriously get it. You want to feel like you're in control. It's a sucky feeling otherwise."

Elena nodded mournfully.

"Well," Bonnie said dragging the word out, "How would you like to find out who _is_ working with Elijah?" When she perked up Bonnie said, "I can try to get a vision. There's no guarantee it'll work," she hurriedly clarified, "since I'm actually going to do something I've never done before which is try to see something specific. I usually don't get to ask questions when it comes to my visions."

"It's worth a shot," Elena said, practically bouncing off the couch. She set her drink on the table and waited for Bonnie's instructions.

Bonnie couldn't help chuckling at her eagerness. "Okay, but let's move upstairs because my dad will be home soon."

Ten minutes later they were sitting across from each other on Bonnie's beige carpet, Elena stopped counting how many times she has changed it, eyes closed, hands held, and breathing slowly. When they exhaled, Elena broke the connection on frustrated sigh.

"What?" Bonnie asked, a little annoyed at being taken out of the moment.

"It's not working," she complained.

"It's going to take _time_," Bonnie said, taking her hands again. "The easiest way to get a vision is to let it happen. Second easiest is to be touching the subject you want the information off of. Right now I'm banking you still have some of Elijah's aura around you," she explained. Not to mention her weakened state might be impeding even her active powers. "Now please, no more interruptions."

An hour and a half later, Bonnie herself was about to throw her hands up when she was suddenly graced with a vision. It took her by surprise like all always.

_The darkness that had been her visionary backdrop for the last ninety minutes evaporated into Elijah, Doctor Martin, and Luka laughing in a living room, the purple-tinged scenery swiftly changed to a picture of the moonstone exploding above her and Luka's heads. She then saw Luka hand the moonstone to his father. Doctor Martin looked at the stone._

Bonnie opened her eyes to find Elena staring at her expectantly. Her stomach was still rolling from the effect of being transported to the past.

"Bonnie?" Elena asked.

Bonnie had dropped her hand and was staring at the carpet, trying to make sense of what she'd seen. The images had been fast, but the faces had been very familiar. Even though her brain had not accepted what she had just seen, her eyes were wondering.

"Bonnie, what did you see?"

Elena's hand on her shoulder snapped her out of her trance. "You need to leave," she said, her voice barely audible.

"What?"

"Please," she said suddenly, springing off the floor. "You need to leave, Elena," she said breathlessly. "I mean it." She headed for her bedroom door without looking back. She went downstairs and opened the front door, waiting for Elena to go through it.

"Bonnie, please," Elena said, hot on her heels. "Tell me what you saw. Was it something about Elijah? Did it have to do with me," she asked worriedly.

"_Please leave_!" Bonnie said, she was positively crying, but she barely felt it. Her throat ached, but she wasn't sure if it was from the oncoming tears or from the despair that was fast encasing her.

Worried but knowing what else to do for the moment, Elena complied. She grabbed her things from the couch and left with a troubled look given to Bonnie.

Bonnie closed her door with a bang and locked it as if there was something on the other side coming fast for her. She turned and rested her back on the door. She was suddenly very out of breath. She took in a big gulp of air, her chest expanding; she released it only to quickly inhale again. Her chest felt tight, and her throat was stiff. Her stomach coiled in dread. Her hands fisted in her shirt as she tried to stop whatever was happening. Tears rolled down her cheek as big gasps continued to escape her body. Her throat was now dry as well as tight because she couldn't close her mouth. Her heart felt so immense that she was positive that it would explode if she attempted to breathe through her nose. Her gasps became sobs while she slid down the door.

She cried and she cried hard. With abandon, she wailed loudly and painfully. She tightly clutched her hair and cried into her knees. She was releasing before she could even process it. She was crying before she could even have a coherent thought about it.

The ground had given way again, and she had been slammed right back where she had started.

On the other side of the door, her hands stiff against it as if she could force it open, Elena listened to Bonnie's raw anguish, scared, shaking, and her eyes gleaming with tears.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary**: Bonnie tries to manage her feelings at Luka's betrayal.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own the characters.

**A/N**: I _think_ the next part might be the final part. I think I can cover all the things I want to in the next chapter to get Bonnie to the emotional point she was in **Daddy Issues**.

**Part 4**

Bonnie woke up the next day to find that her cheeks were wet. She had cried in her sleep. She rolled onto her back, hugging one of her extra satin-covered pillows tightly to her chest and stared at the ceiling.

Luka had lied. He'd lied about everything. Her mouth stretched of its own accord as tears gathered in her dull eyes. She had been completely wrong about him. He apparently not only knew more than her about the craft, but he knew more about her life than he had been letting on.

After crying by the door yesterday afternoon, she had sat there, immobile for hours. It wasn't as she had thought. After months of heartbreak, hurt, and disappointment, something good had _not_ happened to her. She had not gained a friend. Like everyone she's been introduced to in this messed up world that she's inherited, Luka had an agenda. And he had been using her to accomplish it. She couldn't help trying to remember every interaction they had had. It was hard for her to reconcile the guy who apparently had a secret plan with the guy who had given her advice about her powers.

He had pretended he didn't know what the moonstone was. She had thought it so nice and sweet of him to give her all of this advice and accept that she could not tell him why she needed it. He had been mad at her for channeling him without his permission. Bonnie scoffed at how she had taken that at face value. She had gone to his apartment thinking that he would be downright livid with her.

She let the pillow fall away from her and unto the floor and slowly sat up. Her whole body felt incredibly heavy. She scooted back to rest her back on the headboard. Luka had not been mad at her because he had known he had the upper hand. She gathered her legs under her chin cried again. The disappointment was overpowering. She had _completely_ let her guard down, grateful that her kind had moved in town. After meeting Lucy, she couldn't have thought up a better stroke of luck. There's no such thing as luck in this world. She had learned that when Caroline had been turned into a vampire after having been healed with Damon's blood. There is no such thing as luck or coincidence. Luka had been so new and so _welcomed _that she had forgotten this. And now here she was.

She was hurt and disappointed _again_. She did not know why this kept happening to her or how much more she could endure.

/

Elena blindly shoved what she needed in her purse and grabbed her car keys before power-walking out of her room. She almost ran into Jeremy who was just coming up the stairs.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed, holding onto the banister so he wouldn't lose his balance.

Elena gasped. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry Jer." She made to continue down the stairs.

"Where are you heading off to in such a hurry? And this early in the morning?"

"It's Bonnie," she said.

Jeremy instantly became alert at the troubled look etched on Elena's face. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure," she said as she threw a glance at the upstairs hallway, mindful that John might be awake. "Something happened yesterday, and she threw me out of the house. I stood outside and listened to her cry and cry, and…it was horrible, and I need to go talk to her, make sure she's okay."

Jeremy's heart had picked up speed. He was imagining the worst. "What happened?"

Elena fidgeted before whispering, "I can't say." With her eyes, she directed Jeremy's attention to the hallway.

He immediately knew that Bonnie had done something involving magic. He hoped to God, she had not attempted another spell. As Elena continued on her way out of the house, Jeremy went to his room. He grabbed his cell phone and scrolled to Bonnie's number. His thumb was on 'dial' when he suddenly thought twice about his decision. He wanted to hear from Bonnie what had happened because he had doubts she would tell Elena, especially if this involved her strength. He paced his room as he tried to make a decision. Elena had not said anything about Bonnie's physical well-being. He is sure his sister would've mentioned if her best friend had been bleeding. She had said that Bonnie had kicked her out. Maybe it was to hide the fact that she had been about to get a nosebleed? With a heavy sigh, he cleared the impending call. He wanted Elena to come back soon. He needed to check on Bonnie.

/

Elena had just opened her car door when Caroline drove up. Sighing at yet another delay, she waited for her to get out of her car.

"Guess what?" Caroline asked cheerfully by way of greeting.

"What?" Elena asked, hoping this wouldn't be long.

"Bonnie's ignoring me again," Caroline said, her happy face still on even though she was clearly pissed.

"What?"

"I called her all night, and she never picked up her phone. Not _once_. I texted her and texted again this morning, and still nothing. She's ignoring me!"

Elena shook her head. She hoped Caroline had not said anything mean to Bonnie in any of those texts. "Caroline, you don't understand."

"You know I thought we'd been getting somewhere," she continued. "I thought we were gonna by okay and that she was coming around, but apparently not."

Elena felt bad at the hurt she heard in Caroline's voice despite her bravado.

"And you know what?" she continued. "I'm tired of it," she shrugged. "I'm sick of it. I want to talk to her; I want to tell her what happened with Tyler night before last, and I'm _gonna_ make her face me," she said. She spun on her heels, her hair flying, and started marching back to her car.

"I don't think that's a good idea!" Elena quickly called after her.

"Oh, don't even try to get in the middle of this," Caroline said as she opened her car door. "Not if you're gonna stick up for her."

Elena hurried to her and said, "No Caroline, I promise Bonnie isn't mad at you. She's going through something."

Caroline stopped at that. "What something?" she asked suspiciously.

"I have no idea." She looked back at her house before she said, "I was with her yesterday, and she was trying to figure out who the witches are that Elijah's working with. She got a vision, and then…" she shook her head, her ponytail swinging. "She rushed me out, and…she was crying Care. For like five minutes, she just cried."

"I'm coming with you," Caroline declared.

/

When the knock on the front door came, Bonnie was still in her bed. When the knocking turned insistent, she knew it was Elena. When her phone lit up with Caroline's text, she knew there was no way she would be able to ignore them. She pulled herself out of bed and went downstairs.

By the time she got to the front door, Caroline was practically banging on the door. Bonnie opened it and stared at her.

"We were about to get the spare key," Caroline said automatically, but any further comments she had died in her throat when she took in Bonnie's appearance. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying, her face was long and sad, and her hair was a flattened mess.

Elena came back to the porch from looking for the key. "Oh my God. Bonnie," she said.

Bonnie shook her head, unable to speak, and Elena rushed into the house and threw her arms around her. Bonnie accepted her hug, limply putting her own arms around Elena. "I can't get in," she heard Caroline say. When Elena stepped away from her, Bonnie told Caroline to come in. Caroline was on her in a flash which pushed a laugh out of Bonnie. Caroline held her tight for seconds as Elena rubbed her back Bonnie felt her tears coming up again.

Fifteen minutes later, Caroline handed Bonnie her banana berry drink before taking her seat on the chair with her own. Elena came from the kitchen and sat next to Bonnie.

Elena asked, "What happened," breaking the fifteen-minute silence.

Bonnie sniffed. She was getting sick of tearing up. Her voice was scratchy when she answered while staring at her drink. "My friend Luka, he's the warlock working with Elijah. You were right," she croaked flatly.

Elena and Caroline shared a look before she moved closer to Bonnie, putting an arm around her.

"He lied to me," Bonnie continued. "He betrayed me. The whole thing, our friendship, it was all a ruse." She swallowed back the tears even as her voice broke. Her throat was raw. "The moonstone isn't destroyed," she continued. "I saw him give to his dad. I saw them laughing with Elijah."

"The moonstone isn't important," Caroline said. She set her drink on the table and took her place next to Bonnie. She was worried about the vacant look on her face. She took Bonnie's glass from her and grabbed her hand.

"She's right," Elena said. "We want to make sure you're okay."

"Okay?" Bonnie asked on a harsh laugh. "Yeah, I'm great," she said, anger seeping into her voice. "My _friend_ played me for an idiot," she said and shot off the couch. Among the feeling of disappointment, hurt, and betrayal, embarrassment also brewed.

She walked on the other side of the table and faced her friends, saying with her hands on her hips, "I'm great. Just a little embarrassed. Embarrassed to have judged him so wrongly. Embarrassed to have been so _taken_ by him. Embarrassed at having felt so freaking _relieved_ that he'd moved here." She suddenly chuckled at herself, and Caroline and Elena had to avert their eyes. It was hard to take her beating herself up over this.

"I felt such a sense of _belonging_ when I learned he was a warlock," Bonnie said with distaste, continuing her self-mocking. "Like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders because finally, after months without grams, here was someone whom I could talk to, who would _know_ what I'm going through, who would _know_ what the fuck I'm talking about, who'd be able to _teach_ me about this stuff." She laughed again and longer this time, covering her face in the process.

"Bonnie, this isn't your fault," Elena said softly and passionately.

"Why not?" she asked, her face coming back up to pin Elena down. "I've been here before, guys. Guy whose only interested in me because he has some bigger plan in mind? Check: _Ben._ Feeling _impossibly_ alone? Check: grams' death. Feeling like the rug has been pulled out under me and missing grams _so_ much that I can't _breathe_?" she said, her voice altering due to her imminent tears, "_Check_: the night you became a vampire," she said to Caroline as her tears fell. "So you see?" she said with big, watery, green eyes, "I've been here before. Only this time it's allll rolled up into _one_ person." Her throat hurt so much that she couldn't talk anymore. She inhaled shakily as a sob escaped.

Caroline hurried off the couch and hugged her. "I don't get it. Why can't you summon your grams? You said you couldn't while you were away at her funeral, but maybe you can now," she said hopefully.

"No, I can't," Bonnie said into her shoulder. "Luka said that a bunch of dead warlocks got together centuries ago to make it so that witches and warlocks wouldn't be able to summon their dead loved ones until they'd moved on."

"Luka's a liar," Elena said angrily from her place on the couch. Unshed tears spilled when she blinked. "You can't trust what he said."

"Yes I can," Bonnie said in an assured voice. She separated from Caroline so she could look at Elena. "The best way to gain's someone trust is to give them a little bit of truth, right?"

Elena lowered her eyes, realizing that she was right.

"Witches and warlocks used to be able to summon their dead loved ones, but we have a bond. We have a magical bond to our families, and these people used to be so sad and used to miss their families so much that they would keep them on earth. Not on purpose. It's just the way it was. The bond trapped the spirits on this plane. I can't summon grams. No one can as long as I'm missing her. Because with the way I'm feeling right now?" she said, raising her eyebrows at Elena, "I definitely believe that I would trap her. I wouldn't let her leave. I wouldn't be able to," she whispered.

Caroline shielded Bonnie in her hug again, and Elena left her seat to sandwich her from the back.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary**: Due to her emotions, Bonnie's powers go out of control in spurts, culminating in a power boost which she uses to save Caroline.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the characters.

**A/N**: Okay, so this part isn't the last one. Lol. The next one will be for sure.

**Part 5**

Elena and Caroline stuck around for a while. They huddled on the couch, Bonnie slumping against Elena, and watched the local morning news. They all tensed when the reporters started talking about the two campers and sheriff that were killed in the woods though none of them made a comment. They changed the channel when the story circled around for the second time, and Andie Starr was once again telling them of the horrific scene the sheriffs had come upon. Amidst reassurances that she was feeling a miniscule bit better for the moment and that she would call them if she needed to talk about anything, Elena and Caroline left to let Bonnie go shower.

She was in fact feeling a little better. Her thoughts were on the people that had lost their lives when she stood in the shower. She had a heavy feeling that their demise was not as innocent as the news had portrayed. She started wondering if the truth had been circling in Mrs. Lockwood's conscious as she had stood in front of the reporters and talked about the memorial that would be taking place this afternoon, and then she remembered what Elena had told her yesterday at school about the new werewolf who had attacked Damon's friend. She wondered if the events were connected. She truly did not want to be dealing with this. She just wanted to stay enclosed in her house. _Maybe_ step out onto the porch. She started feeling queasy from being barricaded inside the shower stall with the steam surrounding her. Red spots were appearing and disappearing in her sight when she threw the shower curtain aside to let cooler air into the space.

When a knock came at the front door two hours later, the little bit of progress Bonnie had made had completely vanished. She was feeling down and lackluster. She had gathered all of the candles in the house, moved the coffee table back, haphazardly arranged them on the floor, and lit them all one by one using her power. She was lying at an angle on the couch, one of her legs sprung over the back of it, head hanging off the edge, and staring unseeingly into the flickering candles when whoever was at the door knocked for the second time. Bonnie knew it wasn't Elena or Caroline, which meant the person would eventually go away.

"Bonnie, are you in there?"

"Jeremy?" She was pulled out of her funk by his voice. She grunted as she righted herself into a sitting position. Her head lolled to the left a little bit before she regained equilibrium.

"Yeah, I want to make sure you're okay. Open up," Jeremy said, afraid that she wouldn't.

Getting up and walking to the door in order to unlock and open it seemed like such an arduous chore. With a bit of concentration, she had the door open. She has never described the sight of someone as refreshing, but that is exactly what she thought and how she felt at the sight of Jeremy. Even though he had gotten close to her, she had not once thought of him since she had had her vision. Watching him walk through her front door was a pleasant and welcomed surprise.

After Elena had come home, Jeremy had waited an appropriate twenty minutes before walking out of the house, not bothering to ask her what she had gotten out of Bonnie. Now he sat in front of the couch on the floor with Bonnie cradled under his arm and reviewed what she had told him: the new guy Luka was actually a warlock along with his father, and they were working with the vampire that had had his sister kidnapped; he has been helping Bonnie this entire time, and it was because of him that she had thought she was strong enough to bring down the seal. The defeated tone in Bonnie's voice as she had told him everything had made him very uncomfortable. Due to his own feelings for her, he had not liked how giddy and…impressed Bonnie always looked around Luka the few times he had seen them together. Now that he knew that Luka was a warlock, he understood why Bonnie was always so happy around him. Seeing the tears that danced in her eyes as she had spoken to him, he wished with all he could that Luka had just been a warlock. No hidden agenda; just a warlock who had moved into town and whom Bonnie had been glad to have around. He could have dealt with that revelation. Anger and heartbreak warred within him when he thought of the fact that Luka had just been pulling the wool over Bonnie's eyes after everything she had been through.

He rested his head on top of hers and closed his eyes as he lightly ran his knuckles along her damp arm. He had shed his sweater due to how warm the room had been when he had walked in.

"I'm so sorry, Bonnie," he said softly.

"I know," she said when what she really wanted to say was, "Don't be." 'I'm sorry, Bonnie,' was quickly sounding like, 'I'm sorry you were duped, Bonnie,' 'I'm sorry you were so gullible, Bonnie,' 'I'm sorry you're so lonely, Bonnie.' She was starting to not want to be reminded of her weakness and flawed judgment.

She straightened from Jeremy's side and exhaled. She wiped the sweat on her brow and said, "I've got to stop expecting that anyone's going to replace grams." She closed her eyes tightly. That is not what she wanted to say.

Jeremy put his hand on her back and waited for her to continue. He swallowed even as he found the movement a little hard to do.

She shook her head and looked at him. "She was the only one who wanted me to know about being a witch…just so I would know it." She paused. She was going to cry again. "No one's going to replace her. No one cares to. And I knew this already Jer; I swear I _knew_ it," she pled with him. She sniffled. "And I was dealing with it. It was hard as hell. It hurt like hell, but I was _doing_ it. I was making it work." She put her elbow on the couch and hid her face in her hand as she cried.

"Bonnie," Jeremy said, gathering her in his arms. He held her tightly as she sobbed, uselessly wishing that through sheer force of his will he would be able to take her pain away.

"And then I meet Lucy," she says against his chest, "And then he fucking _moves_ here." The flames burned very brightly as she squeezed her eyes in order to try and calm herself. She straightened from Jeremy's chest although he kept his hands on her arms. "He moves here, and," she continues softly, her eyes focused on his chest, "he shows me that I'll never regain what I lost with grams dying. All I have is Emily's grimoire," she said, looking at him, and Jeremy could barely face the ache in her eyes. "I have problems that are beyond my power level, and all I have is a book that was written by a witch so much more powerful than I am," she said resolutely. "Half of the spells in there I can't do because…I'm not strong enough. And that's all I've got. And I've got to accept that. Accept that sometimes things really _are_ as bad as they seem, and there is no fix. There is no _rescue_." Jeremy stroke her cheek as she said, "You'd think with everything I've been through, I would've realized this by now. I promise I won't forget. I will _never_ be back here. I will never feel this way again."

"Bonnie, I'm," he said thickly.

"Please don't," she begs him.

"I wish I could give you the answers," he says, his dark eyes boring into her watery ones. "I wish I knew _anything_ about magic so I could _tell_ you." His breath was coming out in shallow puffs.

"I know," she says, her voice cracking.

Unable to help himself, he placed a long, hard kiss on her forehead.

She smiled when he pulled away. "I know, Jeremy."

His hand was still playing with her cheek. "Can't you call Lucy, I mean, can't you write a spell that can maybe take you to her, or bring her here? I mean she's your cousin, and-"

"I'm not gonna jump from Luka to Lucy and to whoever else comes after her," Bonnie cuts him off. She watched as he visibly deflated. "Lucy has her own life that I'm sure she's trying to rebuild. I can't…this is something that I have to get used to. Again. I'm not latching on to anybody else. I was getting through this on my own the best way I knew how, and I can sure as hell do it again."

"Even though it hurts?" he asks softly.

She slowly nods. "It's my life. It's nothing like what I ever pictured for myself, but…it's my reality. I'll deal with it."

"And I'll be there for you," he said with determination.

She nodded and gave him a small smile, truly grateful for him. She easily fell back into his arms when he embraced her again.

They spent some minutes in silence, the only sound being Jeremy's shallow breaths. He was sure that the room had gotten a whole lot warmer. Beads of sweat were on his arms, brows, chest, and even his legs. He looked at the candles on the floor and knew for certain that they were burning entirely too brightly. "Do you know what you're going to do?" he struggled to get out. "Are you going to confront Luka?"

Bonnie contemplated his question for a bit. She had not gotten that far yet. "I don't think so," she answered. "I mean I shouldn't let him know, right? I should just pretend that I'm still clueless until we can figure out what he and his dad want or what their plans are. Right?" she left her comfortable spot on Jeremy's chest to look at him.

He could only nod.

She frowned slightly. "Are you okay?"

"I think-"

Bonnie realized that he was having trouble breathing, and she became full on worried. She got on her knees and put her hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong, Jeremy?"

"I have no idea. I don't feel so good." He put his hand on his chest as he tried to get more air into his longs. "Bonnie, what's wrong with the candles? They're so bright. Are you doing something?"

Bonnie looked at what he was talking about. The candles were brighter than they should normally be. She looked back at Jeremy, and realization quickly dawned on her. "You have to get out of here," she said urgently, already helping him up.

"What?" he asked in confusion even as he made the effort to get up. Red, blue, and purple spots quickly wiggled in his vision, and he lost his balance and fell on the couch.

"Oh my God, Jeremy!" Bonnie exclaimed, panicking now. She had to get him out of the house and fast. She used all of her weight to get him back up.

"What's going on?" he managed to ask.

"It's me," she said, support his taller frame as she made their way to the door. She used her power to open it. "I'm affecting the air in the room; I think I'm thinning it out." She got him on the porch, but she could no longer support his weight when they made it down the steps.

Jeremy dropped to his hands and knees and fought to get more air into his longs. He wasn't getting better. "Then you should stay out here with me," he said before he started coughing.

"Do I look like I'm having trouble breathing?" Bonnie asked, her voice a pitch higher due to her alarm. She was still affecting the air, seizing it under her control. She knew it, and she didn't know how to stop it. "You need to get away from here. I don't think you should drive. Just start walking. Walk as far away from the house as you can. You need to get away from me." She ran her hand through his hair when he coughed again, and then ran back into the house.

Once inside, she blew out all of the candles. Jeremy texted her a full ten minutes later to tell her that he was far enough away that he could breathe again. Bonnie sighed in relief. Talk about her earlier progress vanishing. She didn't like using her power and being completely unaware of it. Now she knew she could manipulate the air to cut off someone's air supply, and she would remain unscathed. "Perfect," she said and fell back on her bed.

/

"So my plan to play clueless with Luka completely blew up. Well, more like I blew out the tires of his dad's car," Bonnie told Jeremy when they had walked a safe distance from Jonas Martin.

"_What?_" Jeremy asked, completely taken aback.

Bonnie bit the corner of her lip and shifted her weight.

She had decided to step out of her house and go to the memorial in order to pay her respects to those who had lost their lives. She had even debated calling Elena for further details on this werewolf business so she could know if there was yet another out of control person in Mystic Falls that she had to keep an eye on. She had not been surprised to find that parking spots were slim.

"_Ugh," she let out, banging her head on the head rest. It was most likely in bad taste to question people's sympathies, but she was pretty sure most of these people were here because Mystic Falls citizens loved being in crowds. There was no explanation why some people came to every single gathering that happened in this town, whether it was a party, a fundraiser, a blood drive, and in this case a memorial. _

_She had just stepped away from her car when she saw Doctor Martin's silver Hyundai. Luka was getting out of the passenger seat, and her heart seized. She looked at his relaxed face and placed it in the context of what she now knew. She slowly walked forward, unable to take her eyes off of them. The father-son duo who had thought nothing of exploiting her. Anger bloomed inside of her. She had told Luka everything about her, including her most life-changing experience, the death of her grandmother, and what that meant for her. She had shared her innermost fears with him. And in the end he'd just been reporting it back to a vampire? Her chest tightened, and she felt her power seep out. All of a sudden, four loud pops hit the air in succession. People ducked, and the noise even scared Bonnie. "Shit," she said, knowing she'd done something._

_She backed away a bit. The Martins straightened from their crouched positions and went to examine the car. The tires were blown out. One old man was walking towards them to offer his assistance, as Jonas and Luka puzzled over the occurrence. Luka looked around and his eyes settled on Bonnie. Her breath hitched, and her knees literally twitched with the urge to quickly turn around and avoid being seen. Instead, with her heart racing, she stared him down accusingly. She saw the truth dawn in his eyes. Jonas had followed Luka's line of sight and seen that he was looking at Bonnie. Bonnie could be mistaken, but she thought she saw contrition in Luka's face. He moved to come to her, but Jonas placed a firm hand on his shoulder. She took a step back and turned around._

"He tried to tell me that I was confused, but I told him I wasn't," she explained, righting the slipping strap of her satchel. "I told him that I had a vision of him, Luka, and Elijah so he shouldn't bother lying about it."

"So what happens now?" Jeremy asked.

"I have no idea," Bonnie said as she watched the people sadly milling about. "I can't believe I lost _control_ like that," she said beating herself up.

"Hey, you were upset," Jeremy said to soothe her.

"That's not good enough," she returned. "Because now they know that I know. Now we can't predict what they'll do next." She cupped her cheeks with her hands and looked at Jeremy.

"Let's just…be here and pay our respects, and then we can…hang out at the Grille. Okay?"

Bonnie nodded silently. She was officially scared. While her near death experience with Damon had scared her, she was no longer afraid of vampires. Despite their speed and immortality, they could not come close to doing what she could do, even if she did not know how to do it. She had more potential than them. She had meant what she had said to Elena. Magic scares her. And she had just revealed to two experienced warlocks that she knew they were enemies.

/

She had been sharing her fears with Jeremy and managed to get him just as scared as she when she received Elena's text.

_Caroline's been kidnapped. Meet me outside the Grille._

"What?" she asked, as if her phone could give her the answer.

"What's wrong?" Jeremy asked as he popped five fries in his mouth.

"Caroline's in trouble," she said looking at him. "I have to go," she said, already getting up.

"What kind of trouble?" Jeremy asked, getting the feeling from Bonnie's face that this wasn't some girl thing.

"She's been kidnapped. Can you pay for me?"

"Sure. You want me to come with you?"

"No!" she said quickly. "I still haven't gotten over what happened the last time you came along," she said, chiding him with just a look.

Jeremy rolled his eyes and she left.

She was surprised to find an agitated Elena right outside of the establishment. "How'd you get here so fast?" she asked.

"I've been here for a while," she said, still heated from her argument with John. "Come on, we need to move before my uncle sees that I'm gone. Where's your car?" She grabbed Bonnie's wrist and started walking.

"What the heck is going on with Caroline? Who's kidnapped her?" Bonnie asked as they power-walked.

"A werewolf named Jules. The same one who bit Damon's friend. She's holding her in exchange for Tyler. Stefan's supposed to bring him."

"Bring him where?" Bonnie asked, her heart racing.

"Oh God, I have no idea. I didn't ask."

"Well call Stefan!" Bonnie almost screamed.

Elena dug her cell out with trembling hands. Bonnie's worry was fueling her worry. "He might not answer," she said.

Bonnie shook her head. That was not an option. Even if Stefan brought Tyler, those people might still kill Caroline just to make a point. They got to her car, and she paced back and forth as Elena waited for Stefan to pick up. Instead of waiting for luck, she decided to try for a vision. It worked the last time she tried it, but she would be damn if this time it was going to take as long. She had bent the universe to her will once. Hell, magic was all about bending nature to her will. Her powers had spiraled out of control twice today, and they were _going_ to work when she needed it. Mind over nature. That was her inheritance. It was in her blood. She needed to find Caroline. She braced her hand on her car, and pictured her friend's face clearly in her mind.

"He's not picking up," Elena said and redialed.

Bonnie had not heard her. On an inhale she was hit with a vision.

_Caroline turned around and a man shot her in the head. Caroline screamed, stuck in a cage, as the man shut her above her breast. She fought against her prison, and howled in agony when the guy sprayed vervain in her face. Stefan stood with Tyler in the woods along with Damon, and they were surrounded._

Bonnie came out of the purple-tinged scenery, her face grimacing and flinching as if the vervain was being sprayed at her and she was allergic to it.

"Bonnie?" Elena asked, ignoring Stefan's answering machine.

Bonnie staggered back, trying to readjust to her environment. She was shaking when she spoke. "We have to go. He's torturing her."

"Do you know where?"

She nodded, unable to speak.

Tears streamed down her cheeks on the ride over while Elena assured her that they would get there. Elena had a death grip on the door handle. She prayed no cops stopped them, because Bonnie was driving like the dogs of hell were on her heels. And Bonnie was usually the one screeching whenever they got into Tyler's car.

Bonnie's chest was tight with unreleased energy. Her adrenaline was pumping. She had to get her hands on that guy. She was not going to need a cage to torture him. She was not thinking of killing him. She was going to give him as good as he gave Caroline. Maybe cut off his damn air supply.

She threw the door open before she had even fully stopped the car. She didn't bother to get the keys out.

"Which way?" Elena asked.

Bonnie's hair flew around her face. The wind had picked up, and it was because of her, the effect of her fear, her anger at everything she had learned, the adrenaline, and the sweet satisfaction that was already playing in her mind when she would show these werewolves exactly what kind of scene they were trying to involve themselves in.

"Follow me," she said and broke out into a run. The more she ran, the more the wind picked up.

When Stefan caught the stake aimed at him, the small fire that had been lit and had been put out, and it was getting hard for everyone involved in the fight to keep their eyes open against the dirt, leaves, and dust particles being carried about by the brutal wind. It was because of this blind spot that Stefan got stabbed in the back, and Jules managed to shoot Damon. Caroline was unprepared for the scene outside of the Winnebago, and Jules got the drop on her. The Winnebago was starting to shift on the ground.

Bonnie ran undeterred. She felt as if the violent winds were going to carry her to Caroline at any moment. She felt free, and it was amazing. "Bonnie!" she heard Elena scream. "I can't see!" She realized that Elena had stopped and was trying to keep her balance. She went back and took her hand. Elena had to keep her head down, but Bonnie guided her.

When they broke into the scene, Bonnie searched wildly for Caroline. She quickly saw her with a gun pressed to her skull. Pissed, she focused on the person's head, imagined their blood vessels popping, snapping, and swiftly and cruelly tearing apart. She was focusing on her, but due to her heightened emotions, everyone at the scene went down. Stefan grabbed his head. The werewolf who was about to drive a stake through Damon's heart was rendered immobile as his head exploded in pain. Damon was screaming. Jules fell from Caroline, and Tyler, who had been standing at the door of the Winnebago, fell out.

Caroline was the only one Bonnie noticed. Her attention on the woman was broken when Caroline fell. She looked at the scene, and once she was sure everyone was down (though that had not been her plan), she released her hold on the person who had been holding Caroline. She stood there, Elena's hand firmly clasped in hers, and willed the wind to ebb.

Elena straightened and opened her eyes when she no longer felt the wind beating her body, and she was speechless at the scene before her. There were a lot of bodies on the floor, and they were all hurting. She looked at Bonnie as if she was seeing her for the first time, beyond impressed and slightly scared.

"Go get Caroline," Bonnie said calmly, still looking at her work. Despite the moment, or maybe because of it, she was extremely proud of herself. She had not known she was capable of this. "She's over there," she pointed out with her head.

Elena only hesitated for a second. The woman might get up and harm her, but Bonnie was there. She ran to Caroline but abruptly stopped in her tracks when the woman flew away. And then she continued.

Having put Jules where most of the bodies were, Bonnie stepped further into the scene.

The weres and vampires were starting to stir. They were all confused. Except for Damon. "Damn, witch," he said even though the throbbing in his head was still there. "You put a little kick into that one. Damn." He tried to get up but found that he couldn't just yet. Yeah, this aneurysm was not like the others.

"If anyone _flinches_," Bonnie said authoritatively. "I'll do that aaall over again." And she had no doubt about it. Her fingertips were buzzing.

"Elena," Caroline cried. "Oh God, Bonnie," she said gratefully when Elena brought her back to Bonnie's side. She couldn't contain her tears.

"Now who the _hell_…are _you_ people?" Bonnie continued.

Elena made Stefan out. She wanted to run to him, but she couldn't leave Caroline. Plus she was afraid a werewolf might grab her on the way.

"Werewolves," Damon said breathlessly as he stood. "Mason's friends. They want revenge because we killed him."

Jules grunted and stood, so did Stefan.

"If you make a move, Damon, I'll take you down," she said seriously.

He looked at her incredulously.

"Who's in charge?" she asked, looking around.

"I am," Jules said, an edge to her voice. A witch. There is a witch in town.

"Are you the one who killed those campers and that sheriff?"

The question took her off guard. "Yes. It was a full moon. I had no control over that," she said defiantly. She had never met a witch before.

Brody stood up and looked at Bonnie with pure hatred. He hated witches and warlocks. He had a low opinion of them and their tendency to ally themselves with vampires.

"Is that so?" Bonnie asked sarcastically. "Because I remember seeing lots of chains in Mason's truck."

Tyler started at that. He stood and looked at Bonnie. He didn't know what she was or what she had done, but she knew something about Mason.

"Did you kill him too?" Brady ground out.

"I told you that was all me," Damon said.

Bonnie cut Brady a look. "You're the one who was torturing Caroline," she said airily.

"Yeah. Wanna do something about it?" he asked flipping the stake in his hand.

Bonnie smirked and abruptly thrust her hand out, reaching for Brady's throat. She was cutting the air supply to his lungs. He dropped the stake and started clawing at his throat.

Tyler stood, alarmed and waiting for someone to do something. He could not believe what he was seeing. He could not believe that Bonnie Bennett was the one doing this.

"You can't kill him!" Jules said menacingly, with a hint of desperation.

"Move and I'll snap your _neck_," Damon warned.

Brady fell to his knees, gasping for breath.

"Bonnie," Elena said, hoping this wasn't a repeat of when she almost killed Damon.

Caroline happily watched the scene. She wanted to kill him.

"I'm not going to kill him," she said calmly. She focused and gave Brody one hell of an aneurysm. He screamed and clutched his head. Bonnie gave him all she had. The veins in his forehead were bulging. He limply fell on the ground, unconscious.

Caroline was the only one smiling.

"Holy shit," Damon said, looking at Bonnie.

Bonnie looked at Jules who was looking completely out of her league. "You could've chained yourself down. But you weren't interested in that. What was most important was getting back at Damon. You didn't care who got hurt in the process. And that's _exactly_ why you need to go. Gather all your friends and leave. I don't care that you want revenge. You can have your revenge. You're welcomed to kill Damon."

Damon frowned deeply. How is it that even in a situation like this, she was still judging him?

"You're welcomed to take a stab at _me_. I didn't kill Mason, but I did screw up. I got him killed." She looked at Tyler and her look softened. He looked completely lost. "I don't know what they've told you," she started, taking a step toward him, "Mason was working with a vampire. A bad one, one who wanted Elena dead. I only meant to question him, find out what he knew. I made a mistake and left him with Damon, and he killed him. That was my fault, and I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Tyler," she said sincerely as he looked away from her. "He didn't know everything. He was in love with her, and he thought she loved him. He didn't know she was the one who triggered his curse."

Tyler looked up at that.

Damon was contemplating Bonnie, wondering how in the hell she knew that.

"I've spoken to him," she said softly. "I've spoken to his spirit."

Tyler's lips parted. He was more confused than ever.

Her gaze hardened as she focused once more on Jules. "You've proven that you can't take your revenge without hurting innocent people, people who have nothing to do with this. The people of this town aren't going to be causalities in your mission. It doesn't work like that for _them_," she said, tilting her head in the vampires' direction, "And it sure as hell isn't going to work like that for _you_. Take your friends," she said, looking at the other conscious werewolves, "and leave town. Do it on your own, or I will _banish_ you, making sure you can never come back."

She did not really have a spell for that, but she had a start. Emily had been trying to work on one.

"Let's go," she said while looking at Jules, and the three girls left.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary**: Falling action. For now. The girls are worn out by their respective trials. Elena and Bonnie decide to have an impromptu slumber party to make Caroline feel better.

**A/N**: So I lied. Lol. I realized I can't end the story yet and be happy with it. I don't know when the end will be. All I can say is that this will continue through **The House Guest**.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own the characters. They belong to LJ Smith, The CW, etc.

**Part 6**

Elena drove, and Bonnie sat in the back cradling Caroline who had bouts of crying during the trip to her house. Elena kept glancing at the rearview mirror, not because she wanted to check on her friends but because she was just the tiniest bit paranoid that the werewolves would follow them. No one tailed them to Caroline's place, but instead of easing her worries she worked her forehead with the thought that Stefan, Damon, and the weres might have decided to continue where they left off.

Elena opened the door for Bonnie and Caroline once she parked, and the energy it took to get out of the car made Bonnie realize how exhausted she was all of a sudden. The weightlessness she had felt earlier as she had run to Caroline was now replaced with a heaviness that had her fantasizing about resting her head on a bed, any bed. She felt like dead weight.

"Do you have your key?" Elena asked, and she immediately regretted it. What a stupid question.

Bonnie's arm locked around her, Caroline did not answer, but Elena's question made her realize that the asshole who had been torturing her still had her purse.

"I can open the door," Bonnie said, though just the thought of using her brain made her feel even more beat.

Elena said a silent prayer that Caroline's mom was working late as she traded places with Bonnie.

With a flick of her wrist, it seemed less tiring than only using her mind, Bonnie opened the door. Liz Forbes loved the town of Mystic Falls and trusted most of the people she knew, but she did not keep a spare key hidden outside of her house.

Bonnie turned on the living room light, and Elena sat Caroline on the couch and took her place next to her. When Bonnie plopped down, Caroline said tiredly, "No, no." She stood up and faced them. "You guys don't need to stay. Seriously. I'm fine. You can go home."

Bonnie looked at her for the first time since the entire ordeal. She still had darts sticking out of her face.

"We're not going anywhere, Caroline," Elena said, standing up. "We're staying with you. We're gonna slumber it," she said, stroking her friend's hair. She looked at Bonnie, silently asking her if she was able to stay too.

Caroline welled up.

Bonnie stood and walked to her. "We haven't done it in ages," she said softly. She had never seen her friend look so battered. She did not want to leave her alone.

She and Elena hugged Caroline who started to cry.

Minutes later, after Elena and Bonnie had made the appropriate phone calls home, Elena ran Caroline a bath while Bonnie stood next to the blonde in front of the vanity mirror and helped her take the darts out of her face, rubbing Caroline's arms on each sob. She kept tearing up herself.

"You kicked ass," Caroline said, her voice croaky.

Bonnie smiled. "I wonder if they'll listen to me and leave."

"Who cares?" Caroline said, her voice steely. "Either way, werewolves beware," she said proudly.

"Werewolves _and_ vampires," Bonnie said pointedly.

"And lying warlocks," Caroline added.

"Exactly." Bonnie stroked her cheek. She squatted and said, "I'm so sorry we didn't get there sooner," she said tenderly.

"But you did." It had been the best surprise ever. She had had no idea that Bonnie could do that kind of damage, and she knew her friend had not known that about herself and her powers either. She would never forget how, after what had felt like hours of torture, the wind had turned fierce and bodies had fallen because Bonnie and Elena had come to rescue her. Caroline turned in her chair to better face her, "I kept calling you the other day, before I knew about Luka, because I wanted to tell you how it went with Tyler's transformation. I wanted to tell you how it had been the most heartbreaking thing I had ever seen. I wanted to tell you how scary it was to watch him go through that; how scary it was to hear him crying and hear his bones breaking, and watch his body…contorting. How bad I felt for him. At one point, he broke the restraints and ran at me, and I had never run so fast in my life."

Bonnie nodded.

"And tonight," Caroline said, her voice miles away now even though she was still looking at Bonnie, "I was tortured. Someone was laughing while I…screamed in pain. And someone pointed a gun to my head right in front of him…and he hesitated. After _all_ of that, Bonnie. After he even questioned why I was so nice to him and I explained, and he _kissed_ me. He hesitated when my life was on the line. When he was the only one who could've helped me." The lump in her throat grew, and she fell into Bonnie's arms and held on tight. Tyler was mad at her for the death of his uncle, so he all but acquiesced to her murder. Bonnie had been mad at her for killing someone, for possibly being a monster, and she had all but created a hurricane to save her. This difference would be one of the things at the forefront of her mind when she would slam the door in Tyler's face later.

Elena came into the room and smiled at what she saw before her. This sure was a long way from Bonnie telling her that she could not speak to Caroline because the latter was a vampire. She did not want to interrupt, so she waited for them to finish. "Matt's on the phone," she said, pointing behind her to the living room. When Caroline started to stand, she quickly added, "I can tell him you're busy-"

"No!" Caroline quickly cut her off. "I'll talk to him." She had no idea what she was going to say to him, or how she would even begin to fix the mess she was sure she had made, but she _needed_ to talk to him.

As Caroline made her way out of the room, Bonnie lazily stood up and sat on the newly vacant chair, leaning her tired body against the back. It felt like she had spent two hours working out nonstop. "I'm pooped," she told Elena, her mouth forming a pout.

"I'm not surprised," Elena said with a smile as she sat on Caroline's bed. "That was…" She let her lack of words communicate what she was trying to say. She was beyond impressed. There is a lot about Bonnie's magic that she does not know. Some of it even scares her, truthfully.

"I know," Bonnie said, unable to keep the pride out of her voice. "Now, I just want to collapse."

"After I fought my first vampire, I felt like I was floating on air."

Bonnie chuckled. "That's how I felt earlier. Now I just want to sleep." She thought a second. "But I do feel relieved though. It's like everything, all the crap with Luka, just everything…has been purged."

By a violent display of power. Elena thought of the time Bonnie set Damon on fire. She was starting to pick up a pattern. "Do you know what you're going to do about him?"

Bonnie sighed, thinking about what took place earlier in the day. It seemed like that whole event happened yesterday. "I had planned on playing along, not letting him know I knew the truth. Let's just say that's no longer an option. He and his dad know."

Elena opened her mouth slightly. "Are you serious? What-?"

"I have no idea," Bonnie cut her off. "Doctor Martin said they were trying to protect me, that things aren't what they seem or whatever-"

"You believe him?" Elena asked skeptically.

"Of course not. But that's honestly the last thing I want to be thinking about right now."

Elena nodded, smiling at Bonnie's subtle way of telling her to drop it.

"Bonnie, Stefan wants to talk to you," Caroline said when she came back a couple of seconds later.

Elena perked up. Bonnie knew exactly what Stefan was going to talk about.

"That was an impressive display of power," he told her when she stepped outside. Bonnie smiled and rolled her eyes. First Caroline, then Elena, and now Stefan. She was starting to get embarrassed. In her heart though, she could not help but say, "Yeah, I was hot stuff wasn't I?"

"How are you doing?"

"Good," she said, nodding. "I feel great."

"Elena told me about your warlock friend."

Bonnie's smile was less bright. "So you know where the power surge came from." She sighed loudly.

"I'm sorry," he said, sincerely.

She waved away his concern. "I mean thank you, but…I'm trying to move past it."

Stefan pursed his lips. "What are you gonna do?"

"No idea yet. I wanna know what they want, what they're planning."

Stefan agreed. "Well, the best way to do that is to try to get a vision from Luka. You have an advatange-"

"Uh, if you're gonna say he doesn't know, then don't bother because he does. So I need to come up with something else. I'll worry about that tomorrow though. How did it go after we left?" she asked, frowning.

"Damon and I walked away," Stefan reassured her, crossing his arms and frowning. "I can't promise Jules won't try something again. Can you make good on your promise?"

"Sort of," she admitted hesitantly. "Emily has the beginnings of the spell. I would have to complete it."

Stefan nodded somberly. "Caroline seems to be holding it together."

She smiled. "That's all she can do. Trust me, I know. We'll take care of her."

"Let me know if there's anything I can do to help. With Caroline, you, anything."

An airy chuckle escaped Bonnie. She looked at Stefan like he was something from another world. She remembered joking with Elena that Stefan looked like he belonged on the cover of one of those romance books when he had been new to the school. The way he acted, she would categorize him as one of those guys on t.v. that she, Elena, and Caroline used to call their husbands. "Don't you have enough on your plate?"

Stefan laughed. "Apparently not."

Bonnie shook her head, reprimanding him with her eyes. Always going above and beyond: that had been her first thought back when she had started to relax around him.

Stefan wanted to ask what the power surge meant for her depleting energy, but he did not want an eye-roll. He decided to save it for another day.

When Bonnie returned inside to tell Elena that it was her turn, Elena told her that Luka was wearing down her phone. Bonnie had ten missed calls from him and two voicemail messages. She was slightly curious as to what he possibly wanted her to know, but then she thought he might be trying to push the same bullshit line his father had spouted earlier. Luka _had_ been the one to tell her the all witches are family crap. She decided that his message could until tomorrow.

She saw that she had one text from Jeremy. She did not notice that she smiled at the sight of it.

_When everything's over, text me._

She realized that she did not want to text him. She wanted to call him. She wanted to hear his voice, to hear him ask if she was okay. She looked around her and realized that there was no way she could get away with calling Jeremy without her friends hearing her. Her line of thinking gave her pause. She had nothing to hide. She just wanted to talk to him. Everyone knew…actually no one knew. She could not think of a single instance when she and Jeremy had gotten the opportunity to hang out with everyone else. Despite the fact that they had taken a small step when Bonnie had been searching for the moonstone, she and Caroline had not attempted to talk to each other until today though she could not say why. She supposed they had both been distracted by their lives. As for Elena, she was always busy and dealing with one thing or another, top being the fact that someone wanted to sacrifice her.

She was used to talking to Jeremy in private, away from pretty much everyone she knew, so she figured that's why she felt weird about calling him while Elena and Caroline weren't too far away. She would not analyze further than that.

"What did he say?" Elena asked.

"Huh?" Bonnie asked eloquently upon looking up.

"Luka. You were staring at your phone. Did you send him a message?"

"Uh," Bonnie said looking at the object in question, "No, I didn't. I was just thinking…stuff. I'll deal with Luka tomorrow."

"And I'll deal with John tomorrow," she decided, nodding her head once for emphasis.

"Ooo yeah. Good luck explaining why you snuck out of the Grille."

Elena rolled her eyes and trudged to Caroline's room.

/

There was one more visitor that night. When Caroline told them it was no one while sifting through returned purse to make sure everything was there, Bonnie and Elena knew that Tyler had stopped by. They had tried not to listen when Caroline's voice had gotten louder as she had spoken to him.

Tyler had come to apologize to Caroline and to get more answers. He had wanted to talk to Bonnie, but when Caroline shut the door in his face, he realized that that was not going to happen. Bonnie had spoken to Mason's spirit, so maybe she could do it again only this time he would be there. It was the least she could do. He only considered the idea of waiting until later to talk to her for about two seconds. He did not know what to do or who the hell to trust, but he figured he might have a better chance with the person who gave a shit enough to tell him his uncle had died.

/

Bonnie sincerely hoped that Jules would leave Tyler alone. She decided to try to talk to him the next day. For the night, however, she would indulge with Caroline and Elena in Disney princess movies, Caroline's choice for their theme of the night.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary: Bonnie does a spell that goes horribly wrong and leaves Damon bald.**

**Timeline: Up to 3.12. No spoilers for future episodes.**

**A/N: Written for the LadyGawain at the Trolling Ficathon on livejournal. Please enjoy!**

**Sleep Deprivation and Spellcasting**

"STEFAN!" The tragic cry rang through the Salvatore mansion, but before Stefan could make his way up the stairs, Damon sped down and stood before him in nothing but his bath towel.

Damon grabbed Stefan's shoulders, his eyes manic. His words stalled because he noticed another presence in the room. Elijah.

"What the hell happened to your hair?" Stefan asked, his thick brows coming close to each other in confusion.

The more he spoke the harder he grabbed Stefan's jacket until he was almost shaking him. "It's gone. Disap_peared_. It's not in the shower; it's not in the bathroom; it's not in my _room_. _Stefan_."

The man in question slapped his hands away and resisted feeling for his own hair. Damon on the other hand was feeling all kinds of new sensations on his scalp.

"How did this happen?"

"How should I know? I stepped in the shower, came out, and all of sudden I look like Charles Xavier!" His blues eyes widened to an unprecedented width which did nothing but draw attention to his hairless head.

"You," he snarled Elijah's way. He swiftly adopted a relaxed posture, his shoulders dropping and a game started playing in his eyes. "This wouldn't happen to be your brother's doing, would it? Found a little witch and is now _messing_ with me in some kind of...weird...revenge plot?"

"I can assure you he hasn't," Elijah said unaffectedly. He had already mentally checked to make sure his hair was still in place, and he'd done so by looking to see if the younger Salvatore still had his.

Stefan became pensive and adopted his customary 'Work Out The Mystery' stance: his fingers glided through the air and his eyes were slightly narrowed as he spoke. "But it has to be magic."

Damon was done listening. He turned and left, ignoring Stefan's calls after him. The moment he'd said 'witch', he'd stopped thinking of Klaus and had immediately thought of...Bonnie. He got to his room, shoved the door close, grabbed his cell phone, and punched in her designated number on his speed dial.

/

Bonnie's eyebrows were lifted past their set line and her hands were balled into loose fists. She didn't know what else to do with them. In front of her stood a completely bald, irate vampire. And he wasn't wearing a shirt.

Damon had combed through his wardrobe, but he hadn't found anything that would match his unwanted 'do. So he'd decided to stay shirtless. It blended easier.

"I have no idea what happened," Bonnie said slowly.

"What I don't get," Damon said conversationally, he hadn't stopped talking since she'd stepped into the living room, "Is how you could be doing any spell, _any_ juju, and it somehow bounces off and hits _me_." He thought they were past all that. And really, how could she stoop so low as to cast a spell on him.

"Hey I didn't say I did anything."

"Yeah? Well who else could it have been?"

Bonnie shook her head. She had no answer. She wasn't even trying to think of one. She was taken by his smooth dome.

"Stop staring," he growled.

And she started to smile. Damon was _bald_. He looked unnatural, like he wasn't real. She kept expecting him to give up the ruse and take off the bald cap, but it didn't seem that was going to come to fruition. She wondered how it felt. She looked at Stefan and Elijah, and the Original vampire was the only one who wore a smile to match her own.

"Alright retrace your steps. What were you doing earlier?"

"I was in school."

"The last time you casted a spell, _Bonnie_," he specified, trying to remain patient.

"I was coming up with spells to try on the coffin." Mentioning the bane of her existence reminded her of how tired she was. It wasn't uncommon nowadays for her to go to sleep at three in the morning even on school nights. She didn't want to waste time opening the coffins, because she _still_ dreamed about opening them. Her dreams had evolved from her finding the coffins, to her mom rescuing her from the locked coffin, to Klaus telling her he'd figured out how to open it. That was what she dreamed of every night now. Right before he attacked her. But she was positive he represented something else. Or maybe some_one_ else.

"And did you by _any_ chance mention my name?"

"No," she said resolutely, puckering her lips on the denial. But...she had thought about him at one point. She had been in that delirious state between sleep and wakefulness, when figures seemed to appear in her peripheral vision, when she would try to open her eyes to see if someone was truly there only to find that her lids were too heavy and it felt much better to close her eyes. And she'd been thinking about everything she'd done so far on the coffin, of everyone who was involved, and she had focused on a day in particular when Damon had been keeping her company for a reason he never identified. He'd been going on a diatribe about having to deal with the uncertainty presented by Elijah on top of Stefan and Klaus. He had even brought up Elena's name at certain intervals.

And that was all she could remember.

"I'm sure that doesn't matter," Stefan said, as if he was in mid-thought.

Bonnie turned her neck to look at him.

"Right," Damon replied as if Stefan had said something profound.

Bonnie frowned at having to move her heavy head again, but she refocused on the older vampire just the same.

"Just fix it. Cast a new spell."

She smiled. "That might take some time."

He slowly walked to her until she was dwarfed. "By all means _don't_ take your time. This is priority number one. I'm sure it'll take you less time than the coffin. Work with mother of the year. Two witchy heads are better than one," he concluded, sounding like he was on an informercial.

She was sometimes amazed by Damon's capacity to be so expressive with his face. Now she was almost frightened.

"I cannot step out of the house like this," he emphasized slowly.

She reared her neck back. "That's horrible. I'll be sure to make excuses when those throngs of people ask about you."

He lowered his head, his gaze occasionally flicking to her collarbone as he spoke. "You know," he began smoothly, "I'd say we've been spending a lot of time together. Coffins, plotting Klaus' downfall. Yet I missed when you got a sense of humor," he said, sounding mystified.

Bonnie rubbed her glossed lips against each other. "You haven't missed much. I got it at the same time your hair disappeared."

Damon went through three different looks, first glaring, then confusion at how he should approach her, and finally settling on sincerity. "I'm being nice."

"You know Damon, you were the one telling me I should get over myself and give my mom a chance. I think you're right," she said, sounding like she was finally making a breakthrough. The glee pulling at her lips left no room for interpretation. She _was_ going to take her time. "It _has_ been fifteen years since I saw her, and the past _is_ the past, and...well she's a stranger like you said. What power does she really hold over me? Out of all the people in my life, how much damage can she really do?"

"I was drunk," he said, the words dripping with malice.

"And wise," she said, not bothering to mask her patronization.

Damon tightened his jaw.

"I have a lot to talk about with my mother; your follicle problem can wait a little." She put on her best apology mask and started backing towards the exit. "But I promise I'll keep it in mind," she said, her farce going from apologetic to grave as befitted what she knew to be a delicate situation. She spurn and almost laughed her way out of the boarding house.

Damon crafted murder on her back.

**The End**


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